It was a dark and stormy night and…wait. That’s a different story. It was both dark and rainy Friday night in San Francisco, but The Music was also playing a special Friday Night popscene Live Session, so their was a reason to head out into the dark night. The young quartet from Leeds was making their San Francisco live debut and no amount of rain was going to deter this feisty bunch from giving their all and wowing the crowd.
They were due to hit the stage at 11:30 PM and at 11:30 sharp, there they were, tuning their guitars, saying hi to the crowd and ripping straight into psychedelic album opener, “The Dance.” I loved the band’s debut self-titled record, but was unsure as to how they would translate live; after all, they are still young, haven’t toured the States yet, and, I love The Vines album, too, but we know how that goes live. However, The Music sounded like seasoned veterans, playing as tight a show as could be imagined, considering the band is essentially an indie jam band. However, instead of envisioning Phish instead, this connotation should bring to mind a contender for the throne vacated by the cessation of acts such as The Stone Roses and Verve, bands that were able to be both psychedelic and groove oriented, without being self-absorbed or reeking of patchouli. By the time the band’s new UK single, “Getaway” was played, five songs into the evening, not only was I impressed, but a room full of people who had read the press but not necessarily heard the band and had ventured out and braved the inclement weather were virtually instant converts. I hadn’t heard a crowd that supportive of a relatively unknown (to them) act in a long time. As the band rocked their way through some of their more familiar material, “The People,” “Take The Long Road and Walk It” and the show-closing instrumental “The Walls Get Smaller,” I became more and more impressed. They left the stage, bidding the crowd adieu until the next time they were in town, as seeing how they are due to embark on tours in support of labelmates The Vines and then Coldplay, chances are I won’t have a chance to see them perform in such an intimate venue again. My loss.
The Music’s setlist:
“Dance”
“Jag Song”
“Truth”
“Human”
“Getaway”
“Too High”
“Float”
“New Instrumental”
“The People”
“Take The Long Road And Walk It”
“Disco”
“The Walls Get Smaller”
